The film was produced in the early goings of summer in 1998 almost as a tribute to the re-release of the novel of the same name in June. Directed by Monty Python's Flying Circus animator Terry Gilliam [12 Monkeys], the film was received quite poorly in the box office and even by the counterculture which was its target audience. Not even an impressive list of cameo appearances could salvage box office respect. This list featured Cameron Diaz, Cristina Ricci, Gary Busey, Lyle Lovett, Verne Troyer ["Mini-me" from Austin Powers], Penn Jillette [of Penn and Teller], Michael Jeter, and Flea from the red hot chili peppers]. Oddly enough, this film sometimes reads straight from the novel itself. Starring Johnny Depp [as Duke] and Benico Del Toro [Dr. Gonzo, Duke's attorney and confidant], the film has to be the best account of what the early seventies in the western United States were like despite Thompson's own denouncement saying "no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world"....
